


move among the stars

by magnificentbirb



Series: we keep going on [5]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space Opera, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Flashback, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Kim Hongjoong Is Whipped For Park Seonghwa, M/M, Minor Character Death, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:01:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23440606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnificentbirb/pseuds/magnificentbirb
Summary: He’d basically just burned every bridge he possibly could’ve had to Terra, which meant he could never go back, which meant—Which meant he’d never see Park Seonghwa again.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: we keep going on [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1489547
Comments: 22
Kudos: 163





	move among the stars

**Author's Note:**

> finally wrote my seongjoong backstory!
> 
> this could also work as a standalone tbh, but of course it goes in the series, because that's where these babs belong.
> 
> posting this sort of as a happy-birthday-to-me, i suppose? ~~how does one celebrate a birthday during quarantine~~
> 
> if you're a fan of ~moods~ while reading, please note that this story was heavily inspired by [Blue by Mai Yamane](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lXb4gLL5Nk), which is also where the title came from. that song has broken me so many times please share in my feelings.
> 
> enjoy~!

Hongjoong’s palms were slick against the ship’s controls. His pulse thudded in his veins, his ears rang, his breath came in dry gasps that scraped his throat raw. The ship shuddered around him, fighting its way through atmosphere it was never designed to fly through at such high speeds. Hongjoong prayed to whatever gods would listen that the stolen ship would hold together; he strangely cared less about whether he lived or died and more about just getting away, as far away from the arid, dying Terra as he possibly could.

As far away from the screams, the fear, the blood—

Just. As far away as possible. 

The comms unit on the ship crackled: “ _Rogue starship KQ-148, do not leave the atmosphere, I repeat, do not leave the atmosphere. As soon as you depart Terran airspace, you will be wanted as a fugitive and hunted down by Galactic Union enforcers who will be authorized to shoot on—_ ”

Hongjoong forced one white-knuckled hand off of the steering controls and flicked off the comms unit, blocking any further transmissions and dooming himself to a life as a fugitive, which was fine. It would be fine. As long as he managed to lose any pursuant ships, he could slip off the radar with no problem once he was far enough from Terra, _it would be fine._

The ship rocked its terrifying way through the atmosphere, Hongjoong clenching his teeth and gripping the controls so hard he thought his fingers might break, until finally the starship broke free into empty space, dark and silent and littered with distant stars.

Hongjoong let out a shaky breath for what felt like the first time in hours. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the relief was fleeting. Too soon, memories began to flash through his mind: his brother’s enraged roar as he lifted the ancient shotgun; their step-father trying to escape on a shattered knee, dragging himself across the floor; his brother standing over the carnage afterwards, hands shaking and eyes wide, realizing what he had just done; and then Hongjoong fleeing, his vison tunneling, panic a vice-grip on his lungs, legs pumping, sprinting beneath the lurid Terran sun until he could get to his brother’s old starship and _leave_.

The ship was unsettlingly silent in the dark expanse of space. Hongjoong kept it at the highest speed he could, double-checking the outer cameras to confirm that he didn’t already have GU ships on his tail. He saw nothing around him but empty space and stars and, far below, the crisped tan husk of Terra, growing smaller and smaller as the _KQ-148_ sped away.

Slowly, painfully, he unclasped his hands from the controls. His knuckles ached, and his stomach gave a lurch at the sight of rust-colored dried blood flecking his skin, staining the creases of his knuckles, his cuticles, the lines of his palms. He scrubbed his hands against his shirt, trying to get it off, but he could still feel it there, seeping into his skin, marking him forever as an accomplice to patricide. 

_Was_ he an accomplice, though? He didn’t pull the trigger. He didn’t even hold the gun. All he did was watch as his brother exploded over the course of a few minutes and shattered all of their lives forever. Could Hongjoong be locked up for that? He was already a fugitive for fleeing the scene of the crime. Would his brother try to shuffle some of the blame for the murder onto him, too?

Hongjoong glanced at the silent, blinking comms switch. The blinking meant that someone had tried to contact him; probably the GU again. But what if it was his brother? What if it was—

Hongjoong’s stomach clenched.

_What if it was Seonghwa?_

Hongjoong let out a tremulous breath, closing his eyes briefly.

_Seonghwa._

He’d left Seonghwa behind. He could never go back now, not with his step-father dead and his brother a murderer and the GU on his tail. He’d basically just burned every bridge he possibly could’ve had to Terra, which meant he could never go back, which meant— 

Which meant he’d never see Park Seonghwa again.

Hongjoong choked, gagging on the sudden lump in his throat, the pressure building behind his eyes. He leaned forward, burying his face in his hands, getting dried blood on his forehead, his cheeks, but it didn’t matter, nothing mattered, _he was never going to see Seonghwa again._

Finally—after what felt like hours of shock, of adrenaline-fueled terror, of an absolute single-minded desperation to escape—Hongjoong’s shoulders shook with muffled sobs, and he allowed himself to cry.

*

_“It happened again, didn’t it?”_

_Seonghwa’s voice was soft, but Hongjoong could hear fury simmering deep beneath the surface, barely reined in._

_“It’s fine, I just—”_

_Long fingers gripped his chin, raising his head, gently yet firmly. Hongjoong snapped his mouth shut, watching as Seonghwa’s jaw tightened, as his eyes narrowed. Careful fingertips traced the bruise on Hongjoong’s jawline, tipping his head to the side._

_“I’m fine,” Hongjoong said, barely more than a whisper._

_Seonghwa pressed his lips together, releasing Hongjoong’s chin._

_“Do you need anything from your parents’ house?” Seonghwa said, his voice carefully even._

_Hongjoong blinked at him. “What?”_

_“Do you need anything,” Seonghwa said again, “before we leave?”_

_“What do you—?”_

_“You’re not staying there.” Seonghwa turned away, already striding across the arid field toward his house. “Not when they’re hurting you. We can leave together, or you can stay with me for now, but you’re not going back.”_

_“Seonghwa—”_

_“No.” Seonghwa’s hands clenched at his sides, but he didn’t turn back. “No, Hongjoong. If you won’t let me report him, then at least let me protect you in whatever way I can. Please.”_

_Hongjoong stared at Seonghwa’s back, his dark tousled hair, his tense shoulders, already broader at the age of seventeen than Hongjoong’s would probably ever be. Hongjoong’s heart was in his throat, and he felt dangerously close to tears. His hands shook at his sides. He sucked his lower lip between his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, ducked his head._

_“... Do you have an extra toothbrush?” he asked._

_He didn’t look up, but he heard Seonghwa’s soft sigh._

_“Yeah. We do.”_

_“Okay.” Hongjoong took a deep breath, the dry Terran air scraping his throat. “Then… let’s go to your place for the night.”_

_Silence. Hongjoong cracked his eyes open, and his heart stuttered when he met Seonghwa’s soft, sympathetic gaze, kinder than Hongjoong ever deserved._

_“Let’s go,” Seonghwa said, holding a hand out for Hongjoong._

_Hongjoong took it._

*

He fell asleep and ended up somewhere beyond the galaxy’s borders.

When he awoke, Hongjoong confirmed that there was no GU ship on his tail, confirmed that the autopilot was set and all systems were optimal and his fuel would last him at least a few more days, and then he finally allowed himself to shower, rinsing the last of Terra’s dust and blood from his exhausted body. He tried not to watch the way the water swirled rusty around the drain; instead, he lifted his head to the ceiling of the tiny sanitation chamber, closed his eyes, let the scalding water distract him from the aching hollowness in his chest.

He wondered if Seonghwa knew yet that he was gone. Probably. There was very little about Kim Hongjoong that Seonghwa did not know; he kept close tabs on him, always so attentive, always so protective, always ready to reach out, to keep Hongjoong on his feet or draw him into a supportive embrace.

Hongjoong slammed a hand over the manual control for the sanitation chamber, cutting off the water. Steam billowed near the ceiling, a luxury Hongjoong would probably never get used to after spending the first eighteen years of his life on the parched plains of Terra. He rested his head briefly against the damp wall of the chamber, just breathing.

He left Seonghwa behind.

This had never been the plan. Absolutely nothing about this fit with Hongjoong’s plan. He never planned to leave Terra as a fugitive. He never planned to see his step-father murdered. He never planned to leave Terra without an actual _plan_ , and he most definitely never planned to leave Terra without Seonghwa at his side.

Hongjoong found clothes in a small compartment in the ship’s sleeping quarters. They were his brother’s, which turned his stomach a bit, but they were clean and only a little too large and distinctly not covered in dried blood, so they’d have to do.

The cockpit was cool compared to the humid warmth of the sanitation chamber, and Hongjoong was grateful for the woolen sweater he hugged around his torso, even though it had obviously been knitted by his late mother and made him miss her rather terribly. He buried his nose into the soft fabric and closed his eyes and tried to remember her as best he could. It helped a bit.

With a sigh, Hongjoong settled into the pilot’s seat again and stared for a few silent moments at the controls in front of him. He knew the basics of how to fly a starship; his brother had given him a crash course years ago, before he’d been sent off to Helix, before all those failed missions, before their step-father grew cruel and their mother grew sick and— 

Well. His brother had taught him the basics, at least.

Hongjoong triple-checked all of the controls he knew were the most important (fuel gauge, nav system, life support) and then turned his reluctant attention to the still-flashing comms switch. He knew there would be messages waiting there for him. Probably multiple from the GU, perhaps a couple from other starships he passed on the way, maybe one or two from… 

Hongjoong shoved that hope far, far down into his gut. He didn’t know what he’d do if he set his expectations high and then didn’t hear the voice he most wanted to hear.

Steeling himself, he flipped the comms back on, keyed in his brother’s password, and listened to the first of six messages.

*

_Seonghwa’s room was always much more peaceful than Hongjoong’s._

_Hongjoong stared at the bottom of the bunk above him, listening to the comfortable silence of Seonghwa’s family home, the only sounds the dull hiss of sand being blown against the outer windows and Seonghwa’s gentle, even breaths from the top bunk. Hongjoong tugged the blanket up over his face. It smelled like Seonghwa, like clean linen and comfort._

_“Seonghwa,” Hongjoong said, barely audible, just in case Seonghwa was already asleep._

_“Hm?” Seonghwa’s voice was low and warm and sleepy; it made Hongjoong’s stomach squeeze._

_“Thank you.” Hongjoong’s fingers curled into the blanket. “For letting me stay here.”_

_Seonghwa was quiet for a moment, long enough for Hongjoong to wonder if he’d fallen asleep, and then Seonghwa shifted, and when he next spoke, his voice was clear and soft._

_“You’re welcome anytime, Hongjoong. For as long as you need.”_

_Hongjoong’s eyes prickled; he blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. And then he sniffled._

_“... Hongjoong?” Seonghwa said, shifting again. Hongjoong could see him leaning over the edge of the bed, a dark silhouette with mussed hair._

_“What?” Hongjoong said, voice tellingly, irritatingly thick._

_Seonghwa was quiet for another moment, and then the bed squeaked, and he climbed down from the top bunk._

_“Scoot,” he said, standing beside Hongjoong’s bed._

_“Huh?” Hongjoong blinked up at him._

_Seonghwa kicked a knee onto the bed and pushed gently at Hongjoong’s shoulder._

_“Scoot,” he said again, and then suddenly he was lying down on the bed beside Hongjoong, pulling the covers over himself, settling onto the pillow Hongjoong had previously been lying on alone. Hongjoong’s ears burned as he found himself crowded by warm shoulders and soft, clean-smelling hair._

_“What are you doing?” Hongjoong asked, his heart racing._

_“Going to sleep.” Seonghwa took in a deep breath and looped an arm casually over Hongjoong’s waist, closing his eyes. “You should do the same.”_

_“O-okay.”_

_But Hongjoong couldn’t close his eyes. He stared across the tiny expanse of pillow between his face and Seonghwa’s, praying that his heart wasn’t thumping hard enough for Seonghwa to hear, that his breath didn’t smell, that Seonghwa wouldn’t open his eyes and catch Hongjoong staring at him, at his softly parted lips, his elegant nose, his dark eyelashes, the way his hair fell gently over his forehead._

_Hongjoong’s chest felt too tight, his throat thick, but the tears never came, chased away by Seonghwa’s warmth._

_There was a word for this, Hongjoong knew. But he was rather terrified of what it meant._

_Shoving those thoughts away, Hongjoong carefully shifted closer, letting his body fall naturally into Seonghwa’s. Seonghwa hummed low in his throat, not opening his eyes. His arm tightened around Hongjoong’s waist._

_“Goodnight, Joong,” Seonghwa murmured, his breath soft against Hongjoong’s hair._

_“... Goodnight, Seonghwa,” Hongjoong said, curling one hand against the soft fabric over Seonghwa’s heart. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the steady thrum of life beneath his fingers._

_Sleep came quickly after that._

*

“Single bed is fine?” the innkeeper asked in heavily accented Galactian, arching a pale blue brow at Hongjoong.

Hongjoong hunched deeper into his thick woolen coat, rubbing his hands together and wishing vaguely that he’d remembered to pack gloves.

“Yeah, that’s perfect, thanks.” He glanced furtively around the underlit lobby, trying to discern whether anyone was watching him too closely. The red sun had set hours ago, leaving only the dim blue sun behind, casting a chilly cyan glow over Gliese’s ice fields. The small town Hongjoong had landed in was the only sign of life for miles on the tiny frozen planet, but it had a refuel station and a cozy little inn that served food, so it was enough.

“I’ll need a form of payment and identification,” said the innkeeper, sounding bored.

Hongjoong automatically reached into his bag for some credits and his GU ID, and then he froze, the GU official’s voice ringing in his mind: _Fugitive._

“Ah…” He pulled out a card loaded with credits, but kept his ID hidden away, his pulse thudding heavily in his ears. “Shit, I forgot my ID in my other bag. Will this be enough?”

The innkeeper narrowed her eyes at him.

“You kill someone?” she asked.

“... No,” Hongjoong said carefully.

The innkeeper plucked the card from his hand with long, graceful fingers with far too many knuckles, swiped it into her machine, and seemed satisfied by the amount available.

“Then it is good that names mean little here,” she said, handing back his card. “That will suffice.” She handed him an old-fashioned keycard with the number _26_ printed on it in pale spidery font and pointed down the hall. “Up the stairs, third door on the left. Breakfast is served at Ceryl-rise. The red sun,” she added, seeing Hongjoong’s brief look of confusion.

“Thank you,” Hongjoong said, and then he walked as quickly away from the lobby as he could without looking suspicious. The sooner he could hole up in a room all by himself, the better. He supposed he’d need to get used to being on the run and suspicious of every sentient who so much as glanced at him, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

The room was spare and clean and cold, limned in a cool cerulean glow, the product of the blue sun, reflective ice fields, and a lightly tinted window. Hongjoong tossed his bag onto the foot of the bed and looked around for temp control of some sort. He knew the room probably wasn’t as cold as it felt to him—he couldn’t even see his breath anymore, not like when he’d been outside—but his Terran body simply wasn’t made for the chill of an alien planet covered in ice. He ticked the room’s temp up by a few degrees, and then he plopped down on the bed and pulled out his handheld. 

The screen lit up readily after being charged through the console of his brother’s starship. Hongjoong had turned off all web functions and tracking in an attempt to be as off-the-grid as possible, but there were still certain things he could access. His photos, for one. And his messages—including those he copied from the starship.

Hongjoong’s thumb hovered over the folder of saved photos. He’d been tempted back on the ship to open it, to scroll through countless pictures of the face he hadn’t been able to get out of his mind ever since he’d fled Terra, but instead he opens the messages, clicks _play_ on the second one, and closes his eyes.

“ _Hongjoong._ ” Seonghwa’s voice is surprisingly clear, for being a call from Terra to an unknown starship, copied then to Hongjoong’s personal handheld. Just the sound of him saying Hongjoong’s name makes Hongjoong’s heart twist. “ _I know you’re probably not listening to this live, but if you are, please answer. Okay? Please, I just—I just want to talk to you. There are GU officials all over your property, and your brother’s still here, but his ship is gone, and no one can find you, so that must mean…_ ” A pause, a deep breath. “ _You left. You_ left, _Joong. You left, and I have no idea where you are, and I can’t—_ ” He broke off. “ _Hongjoong, please answer. Please?_ ” More silence on the line, and then, after a few moments, the gentle click of the call being disconnected.

Seonghwa didn’t call again after that.

Hongjoong opened his eyes. The screen of his handheld had gone dark. He clicked it back to life and saw his own smiling face on the screen, partially obscured by the local time, and beside his face, beaming at the camera, dark hair tousled and eyes shining— 

Hongjoong locked his handheld, shoved it deep into his bag, and shrugged out of his heavy coat, heading for the bathroom.

One more shower, and then to bed.

*

_“Why an ice planet, though?” Seonghwa asked, his eyes closed as he leaned back against the side of the house. “Sounds cold.”_

_“Because it’s something we’ve never seen before,” Hongjoong said. “Isn’t that the whole point of adventuring?”_

_“I suppose.”_

_They were lounging outside Seonghwa’s house, two fifteen year-olds sitting in the lone patch of shade that only appeared late in the evenings. The air was still hot enough to burn, and Hongjoong could feel sweat pooling at his temples and the small of his back, but the shade provided some meager protection from the sun, and they were sick of sitting inside._

_“A whole planet of ice,” Seonghwa said wistfully. “I guess that would feel refreshing.”_

_Hongjoong hummed low in his throat. He watched Seonghwa from the corner of his eye, trying not to be too obvious with his staring, even though Seonghwa’s eyes had been closed for almost five minutes now. Perspiration dampened the dark hair on Seonghwa’s forehead and at the nape of his neck, and even as Hongjoong watched, a bead of sweat dripped from Seonghwa’s jaw down his throat, disappearing beneath the loose collar of his shirt. Hongjoong clamped his mouth shut and squeezed his eyes closed and tried not to think too hard about the heat building in his stomach. That bead of sweat just looked like that would’ve been ticklish against his skin, that was all._

_“Yeah, it—it’d be really nice,” Hongjoong said, realizing he hadn’t spoken in a while. He decided to stare up at the pinkening sky instead. Much safer, that._

_“It’s settled, then,” Seonghwa said._

_“What is?”_

_“Where we’ll go first.” Seonghwa opened his eyes, and Hongjoong broke off his (poorly executed) staring contest with the sky to meet Seonghwa’s dark gaze. “When we leave. We’ll head to an ice planet.”_

_“You didn’t sound all that enthused about it when I first brought it up,” Hongjoong said, teasing._

_“I changed my mind,” Seonghwa said. “It’d be nice to be cold for once. And that’s where you’ll be going, right?” He shrugged. “Where you go, I go. Agreed?”_

_Hongjoong smiled, feeling warm from more than just the setting sun._

_“Agreed,” he said, and they shook on it._

*

Hongjoong jolted awake to the sound of someone slamming a fist into his door.

“Kid.” It was the innkeeper, her accented voice muffled through the thick wood of the door. “I know I said I wouldn’t ask this, but is your name by any chance Kim Hongjoong?”

Hongjoong’s heart stuttered, and he sat up in bed, the heavy blankets falling from his shoulders to pool around his waist.

“Who’s asking?” he said, hoping he sounded braver than he felt.

“Some half-frozen Terran who looks like he hasn’t slept in days and might collapse on my doorstep.” 

Hongjoong fumbled for his bag on the floor beside his bed and came up with the handheld blaster he’d nicked from the tiny armory on his brother’s starship. He clicked it on, the weapon buzzing to warm life in his hand, and then he slipped out of bed, shuddering at the chilly floor beneath his bare feet, and padded over to the door.

He cracked the door open, keeping the blaster hidden behind it, and saw the innkeeper standing in the hallway with a tall, shadowy, shivering figure looming just behind her. The innkeeper’s eyes glowed cat-like in the dim light coming from an orb she held in one palm.

“You know him?” she asked, turning slightly to let the orb light the figure behind her, and Hongjoong’s stomach swooped.

“Seonghwa,” he breathed, and oh god, it _was_ Seonghwa, pale and shivering and exhausted, but _real_ and _there_ and so beautiful Hongjoong could have cried.

“S-see?” Seonghwa grinned at the innkeeper, his teeth chattering and arms crossed tightly over his chest, clearly freezing. “T-told you he’d know me.”

“Yes, yes, now let me sleep.” The innkeeper sounded harsh, but her touch was gentle as she ushered Seonghwa past her and up to Hongjoong’s door. “Warm him up,” she said to Hongjoong before she turned away, taking her glowing orb with her. “Idiot had no clothes.”

By that, Hongjoong assumed that she meant he had no _warm_ clothes, because Seonghwa was definitely dressed, but only in a thin striped shirt and dark pants, which would have been overly warm for anyone living on Terra, but this was Gliese.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Hongjoong said as he bundled Seonghwa into his room and closed the door behind them, thumbing the switch on his blaster behind his back so that it was off and could be tossed harmlessly onto the table near the door. “Why didn’t you wear something warmer?”

“Th-this is the warmest thing I could f-find on short notice.” Seonghwa sounded like he was pouting, and Hongjoong’s throat suddenly felt thick despite the smile on his face, because this all felt so easy and familiar and _god_ , he’d thought he would never have this again.

“How did you find me?” he asked as he pushed Seonghwa gently yet firmly over to the bed.

“Gliese is the only ice planet a normal starship could reach on a single run of fuel,” Seonghwa said as he collapsed onto the bed and let Hongjoong manhandle him under the sheets. 

Hongjoong froze in the act of pulling the blankets up over Seonghwa’s chest.

“O-oh,” he said, his heart in his throat. He hadn’t thought—he hadn’t actually wanted to _hope_ — 

Seonghwa peered up at him through his dark fringe, frowning slightly.

“You okay?” He tugged on the blankets, taking them from Hongjoong’s frozen hands, and held them open expectantly, still shivering. “Get in here, you’re letting the warmth out.”

Hongjoong climbed into bed without another word, settling right next to Seonghwa, and Seonghwa covered them both with blankets, burrowing down until only his head was visible.

“I know we agreed on coming to an ice planet a while ago, but we didn’t really think it through, did we?” Seonghwa grumbled, burying his face in Hongjoong’s chest. “It’s fucking freezing.”

Hongjoong could still feel him shivering; he wrapped his arms tightly around Seonghwa, rubbing his hands over his arms, his back, trying to warm him up.

“I…” Hongjoong broke off, unsure whether he wanted to admit to this, but now that Seonghwa was here, it felt a bit easier to face. “I didn’t know whether you’d actually remember that we said we’d go to an ice planet. I wasn’t sure you’d look for me here, or… or at all.”

Seonghwa went very still in Hongjoong’s arms, and Hongjoong found himself holding his breath.

“Of course I remembered,” Seonghwa said quietly. “Where you go, I go, right? Unless… unless you don’t want me here.” He pulled back slightly, just enough for Hongjoong to see his dark eyes, glittering in the cool silvery light coming from the window. “If you want me to leave, I’ll go right now,” he said, his voice carefully even. “I’m just glad I know you’re all right.”

Hongjoong’s pulse beat loudly in his ears, and his breath started to quicken.

_I’ll go right now._

Trying to stave off the panic those words conjured in him, Hongjoong curled closer to Seonghwa, hiding his face in the crook of Seonghwa’s neck, curling his fingers tightly into the fabric of Seonghwa’s shirt.

“I don’t want you to go,” he whispered. 

Seonghwa relaxed against him, and strong arms wrapped around Hongjoong, holding him close.

“Good,” Seonghwa murmured. “Because I really didn’t want to leave.”

Hongjoong shivered slightly, curling closer. 

They lay in silence for a few minutes, just breathing, Seonghwa gradually warming up in Hongjoong’s arms, his hand tracing a delicate pattern along Hongjoong’s back, lulling Hongjoong into a comfortable doze.

“Are you okay?” Seonghwa asked at long last, softly, just as Hongjoong was starting to drift off.

( _Hongjoong would wonder, later, when he was more awake, whether Seonghwa purposefully waited until Hongjoong was relaxed and half-asleep before trying to dredge up any memories of what had happened on Terra, in order to keep from distressing him. It was a smart move, and kind, and Hongjoong was grateful for it._ ) 

Hongjoong let out a long, sleepy breath, not even bothering to open his eyes.

“I am now,” he whispered. “Thank you… for following me.”

Hongjoong felt something light brush his forehead, soft as moth wings, and when Seonghwa next spoke, he felt the brush of lips on his skin.

“Always,” Seonghwa murmured. “But don’t think I’m going to forget that you left me behind.” He squeezed Hongjoong, clearly teasing. 

“Never again,” Hongjoong said, and even half-asleep, he meant it. 

Seonghwa pressed another tender kiss to Hongjoong’s forehead, and Hongjoong smiled into Seonghwa’s skin, warm and at peace and maybe more than a bit in love.

*

_Wanna be free_  
_Gonna be free_  
_And move among the stars_  
_You know they really aren't so far_

*


End file.
